by Rob Stevenson | 7 May 2026 | Bulletin
We often get asked the question by employees: why is the employer presenting issues as allegations when they are really the grievances of one or more employees? An extreme is the allegation that X has said you didn’t say good morning to them. It’s a tough one. We...
by Rob Stevenson | 14 April 2026 | Bulletin
In an increasingly pressured modern world, many families are looking for assistance to meet their children’s daily needs. Often this is done by engaging a nannie or au pair who may be an overseas national. In years past, it was common to simply pay in cash for this...
by Rob Stevenson | 13 March 2026 | Bulletin
The times they are changing. Certain classes of employee have had a right for some years now to seek workplace flexibility. However, the ability to work from home (even for a day a week) has traditionally been very much the exception rather than the rule. Of...
by Rob Stevenson | 10 February 2026 | Bulletin
We have on several occasions had to give advice to fitness/personal trainers wishing to end their engagement contracts with gyms or personal training establishments. There is often a significant power imbalance between the individual trainer and the business which...
by Rob Stevenson | 9 December 2025 | Bulletin
“I’ll just go to the Fair Work Commission and tell my story”. It is a familiar refrain, but it’s not that simple, and it’s about to get harder. The Fair Work Commission is struggling with an increased workload. This means that claimants and respondents alike need...
by Rob Stevenson | 7 November 2025 | Bulletin
Breaker Morant reputedly said “We caught them and we shot them under Rule 303”. The worst thing an employer can do is make a snap decision to terminate employment. This is particularly the case where no procedural fairness is given and the employer is...
by Rob Stevenson | 15 October 2025 | Bulletin
We sometimes see tension between employed chief executives and volunteer boards of management, particularly in the not for profit sector. This includes the operational chief executive whether described as a CEO, general manager or coordinator and the governing body...
by Rob Stevenson | 8 September 2025 | Bulletin
The terminated employee has a variety of legal options open to them. They usually involve the employer having to explain and justify their reasons for termination, sometimes in court. This can be an uncomfortable experience and decisions which seemed clear at the...
by Rob Stevenson | 11 August 2025 | Bulletin
There has been an increasing level of individual workplace disputes in recent years. In its last annual report, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) noted an almost one third increase in the number of applications over the previous year. A significant reason in our view...
by Rob Stevenson | 7 July 2025 | Bulletin
When an employee’s job gets made redundant, they normally get a redundancy payment right? Sometimes employers are reluctant to make redundancy payments, particularly where employers have generous policies or enterprise agreements providing for more than the National...
